While waiting for my pass to get in, i missed a few bands that i would have liked to see such as Necrowretch, Sticky Boys and Vulcain. So when i walked on the field Sylosis was the first band i saw playing on main stage 2. And i must say, they had a few good thrashy riffs, the vocals reminded me of Pro-Pain sometimes and it sounded aggressive. I never heard of this band, as was the case with some more bands at this 2015 Hellfest edition. These 4 English blokes combine a few styles such as thrash, speed and hardcore along with some experimental sidesteps and i must say that it was a good performance. They could become quite big in future years to come.

Samsara Blues Experiment:

Off to the Valley to see Samsara Blues Experiment. With a name like that one may expect a dose of heavy blues. Nothing wrong with that of course. I was only suprised that they were German. Again, a group i had never heard of before and again, quite a pleasant surprise. Very psychedelic and stoner orientated. Naturally also Krautrock. I had the impression the whole show was one big jamsession and i mean that positively. These guys know how to find eachother blind musicwise and i'm sure at times they do improvise just because they like doing so. Which doesn't happen much in the metalscene unfortunately. So chapeau for these well-skilled musicians

Enthroned:

Normally i'm not the person that goes to the Temple armed with a lot of joy. I'm just not much into what they call Black Metal. But the Belgians of Enthroned have been around for a long time now and they always stick to their roots. Where many bands in this genre start experimenting after a few years and mostly only for the worse, Enthroned don't bullshit around. In your face, non compromising straight forward black/death metal. And one can only respect that. It's really about time they get more credits for all the years they've been playing. A job well done lads!

Billy Idol:

What a crazy day it already has been. Running form one complete different style to the other. Time for Billy Idol. Now, i already saw him doing great at 2014's Sweden Rock and i was sure this old punk rocker would not disappoint any-one. And he didn't. But how can you go wrong by playing hits like "Dancing with Myself" or "Rebel Yell" I's actually all a bit too poppy for me, but who gives a shit when you're there on the field in the sun with a cold beer in your hand. The man is a pure entertainer, a pleasure too watch and so is his band. So leave your troubles at home and have a blasting party. And let us not forget that Billy Idol is not the youngest anymore. Still full of energy and stage-hunger, looking better than the average 25 year old male kid.I missed him doing a few gimmicks that he did the last time i witnessed him, but from what i heard, he kicked total ass in Paris a couple of days later. Indeed, a one hour set is too short for a man with a repetoire like his. But he ruled. He totally did.

Sodom:

Again, big change of musical type. From Billy Idol to Sodom. One of my favourite bands of all time. The first thing i noticed were the soundproblems. I have no idea if it was because of the wind or if they had technical problems on stage. Really badly affected by that were Bernie's leads. And it was not Sodom's best show ever. Still they were doing fine. Tom was extremely happy to be playing shortly before Motorhead and he even got a fan in the frontrow so crazy that he donated his original Overkill shirt to him. "I've been looking for that shirt for years!" A second later it was thrown on stage. Lucky man! He was truly damn pleased by this gesture.Classics like Outbreak of Evil, Christ Passion and the superb Stigmatized from the last album were brought forth and of course Remember the Fallen.Only too bad that with a song dedicated to soldiers that gave their lives in battle there were idiots in the crowd dressed up as chicken or ducks and hopping along. Very disrespectful and annoying. If you wanna have your carnaval, go to Rio, but don't do that during a song that deals with such a delicate matter especially not when Sodom is on stage.As said, i have seen Sodom doing better, but overall, it was a good one.

Motorhead:

Well, what can one say eh? Motorhead. The person that hasn't heard of Lemmy, Phil and Mickey should now stop reading and go back to the school for metal imbeciles. One could actually feel the tension rising on he field and probably every soul that was present came out to see them. All the way till the back the crowd was packed. Motorhead had the biggest audience of this years Hellfest. Probably due also to the fact that one can never know if it will be their last performance ever. Any other man would have been buried years ago living Lemmy's life. It's one of the biggest miracles in rock n roll. One notices. I've seen them many times and last time was a while ago. Phil and Mickey make no mistakes, doing what they always do and have done. Lemmy is a living legend. An icon. Not moving much anymore, but can we ask for more than just seeing him playing Overkill, Ace of Spades, The Chase is better than the Catch, Going to Brazil or even the mighty Orgasmatron? He's still there and we should be grateful that he is. Hands down. Motorhead is still roaring!

Judas Priest:

Jeez, i can hardly believe watching Priest after Motorhead. I get spoiled on this years Hellfest. What a bill! So for me the premiere to see them without K.K Downing. And Priest was absolutely brilliant. Metal Gods, Breaking the Law, Hell bent for Leather, the amazing Victim of Changes and perhaps the best ballad ever written in heavy metal Beyond The Realms of Death are just some of the anthems they played. Of course at times Halford adapted his vocal possibilities to what he is capable of nowadays, but he did that superbly. Richie Faulkner turned out to be the perfect replacement for K.K. Not only by his looks, but also by stage act and lead guitar work. Sticking to the originals, he never made one feel one of the founding members was not present.Of course the bike was there and they left me completely in a state of euphoria. It took me a while to get back to reality after this stunning performance. After this i don't have to see Judas Priest anymore. I want to cherish this in my memories as the last time to get a dose of Priest style heavy metal. I can't get better than this.

Shining:

Standing still in awe and annoyed by the first tones of Slipknot i had to escape the field and walked into the Temple were Norwegian Shining were playing. As i expected Swedish Shining i wanted to get out as i absolutely dislike that band, but the music i was hearing and watching the band made it clear to me this was a total different Shining. Some-one told me there were two bands with that name which is very confusing of course. And i must admit, this was quite special, but above all, highly original. I never heard a metalband using a saxophone. Well yes, some do in an old fashioned rock n roll track along the side, but these guys mixed it with noise, jazz and metal. I heard the singer say something like jazz metal. And why the hell not? They were sparkling and it was pleasure to see them having such a good time. If you're in for a total extraordinary trip, then try exploring the galaxy of this group. A worthy closer of Hellfests friday!